Oh Golly, Ugali!

For those unfamiliar with East African cuisine (so most of the world), a major staple of their diet is a white finely ground corn meal porridge (very dry) called ugali. I admit, on my last two trips to Tanzania I approached ugali with a very high level of general dislike. Oh how wrong I was. Really good, properly made ugali is an amazingly delicious accompaniment to Swahili food. It is the Swahili polenta!!! For those of you who've been there with me in these ugali situations, we were eating bad ugali and we didn't know what we were doing!!! The other day after one invitation to eat ugali, followed by insistence from Joshua, I learned the right way to eat ugali. Levino, head of security, pulled up a chair for me at the table the guys had commandeered for lunch, and Boni taught me, the guest of honor, how to correctly approach ugali. Luckily I had made my special sauce for lunch anyway! It was one of those really awesome cultural experiences, I was so included and they were all so happy to see me enjoying what, for most Tanzanians, is their favorite food.

So my dears, this is the right way to eat ugali - you should all try it. First, you add a ton of maize meal to hot water and let it sit. Stir vigorously after a few minutes before adding more maize meal. Continue to stir and sort of whip the ugali until it is very thick, basically solid and thoroughly cooked. Turn the pot over onto a large platter and use a knife to cut of big hunks. The guys here seriously eat pieces about the size of a small loaf of bread at every meal (well not breakfast, that is almost half a loaf of actual bread). Ok, so then you have a bowl of some tomato-saucey food, perhaps chicken or some other choice meat, or rather meaty bones, or in my case my own homemade original recipe of "Mboga swahili" (vegetable swahili, the veg of choice being cabbage). So now you have your sauce and your ugali. Grab a smallish ping pong ball sized hunk of ugali and squeeze. Careful, right hand only please! Alternate squeezing and rolling for a least three rounds of the process. The ball should get softer and more cohesive as you go. Finally make a small indent into the ball using your thumb and use your little scoop to dip up some sauce. Use your thumb to hold any small bits of tomato or onion in the sauce in the little scoop, pop it into your mouth and enjoy your tasty morsel. Then take a stab at your meat if you have some, just grab and nibble. Repeat process! Yum! And in the words of Isiah (boat guy) and Joshua, "Karibu ugali!" Welcome (help yourself) to the ugali!

Love,
Sara

A Day in the Life

Hello friends!
So, perhaps it is time for me to give you an idea of what a day in the life of Sara is currently like. Here it is: I wake up at 7 or there abouts, no later than 7:15, sometimes as early as 6 depending on what's going on. I get up, throw on some already rather filthy clothes and go to the kitchen. I make myself a bowl of oatmeal aka "porridge" and basically just watch as they make breakfast to order. Sidenote, the eggs here are bizarre. Because they feed the chickens flaked dry fish (yum) the egg yolks are milky colored and barely distinguishable from the white. On the odd occasion you can even get a faint taste of fish. I was lucky enough to sample one of those special eggs. Eggs aren't so appealing here anymore, hence the porridge. Anyway, after hanging out for an hour or two I go back to my banda for some relaxing time. Perhaps a nap or a quick visit to the lionfish tidepool. Lunch prep starts at about 10:30 or 11 depending on how many people are in. This is when I chop thingsand peel things and occasionally make batter or fry things. Alot of things. Sometimes it takes me nearly an hour to peel or chop all the vegetables they've given me. There is alot of daydreaming (no lost fingers yet) and some good natured teasing (only half of which I actually understand). I also make TONS of plate garnishes. TONS. This is a particular skill I have apparently. Joshua, just above me on the pecking order, and I frequently debate which one of us is going to make them. Especially when there are like 30 people in so there are 30 little cucumber and tomato garnishes to fashion. Usually I cave, and then end up enjoying it anyway. Also sometimes I make the tea time snack (which will be served at 4). Finally, Lunch is served at 1, and then I eat out in the dining room with Lara and Dave the lodge managers. If I'm luck we eat by 1:30, but sometimes it's much later. We do usually have a three course meal though so... Usually stuffed to the brim I go back to my banda for fun and games and digestion. Sometimes I go for a swim or a walk down the beach in search of treasures. Frequently I nap. right before i head to dinner prep, I close the blessed and essential mosquito"really large cockroach and other creepy crawly" netting, backing out of my canopy as I spray highly toxic and noxious bug killing spray liberally throughout the netted space. safe for another night (yes Mom, I am still taking my anti-malaria stuff). Then at 5 back to the kitchen for dinner prep. Same as lunch except sometimes I make the dessert! Dinner is served at 8, but usually I don't eat until 8:30, almost always in the dining room unless it's too crowded. Then I leave the dining room between 9 and 10, and the electricity goes off at 10:30, so there's time for a quick shower and bottled water teeth brushing, maybe a bit of a dvd or some reading, before I go to sleep and start over again. It has its ups and downs like anything I suppose, it can be very frustrating not speaking fluently but I am at least able to communicate in kitchen terms for the most part. I get really sore from standing in the kitchen and I've had a couple burns, apparently they don't believe in hot pads here and the sizzling vats of oil are always problematic... but over all, all is well! It's just a bizarre situation because I'm not really an employee, but I'm definitely not a guest, so there's a very delicate balance to maintain. I also miss home and all of you lovely people! Luckily the managers are great and I'm able to at least sort of be friends with the people I'm working with. So all in all, a really awesome experience, and I am definitely learning a lot, if not about cooking then definitely about life. I leave you with a humorous anecdote. I have finally realized that half of the time my communication problems lie in my accent and so I have resorted to using swahili accented english. So picture this, let's say I am trying to say to Joshua, who understands limited English, "Today we're making an American cake?", which comes out "Today cakey AmaRIKA?" Everything sounds so different so unless there is a compromise of accents, usually on my part, it sometimes takes forever to figure out what anyone is saying. Luckily I can now say things like the above in Kiswahili! ;)

Sending you all my love and hopefully I'll hear more from you soon! New plan, Ruaha in 2 weeks...how long have I been saying that?

Love,
"Se-la"

Lazy is not so lazy actually

Hello hello! So this is actually going to be very quick as I'm already over my time limit...BUT all is well and here's the news: I am staying at Lazy for another week or so and for the past week I've been apprenticing in the kitchen. Yep it's true I'm being trained as a Tanzanian sous chef! It's a really long day and a lot of work but it's also nice because I actually feel like I'm accomplishing something. So they haven't given up on me as a chef yet. I will be heading to Ruaha or another one of the camps in mid to late September. The other day Joshua and I made passionfruit sponge cake. I had to literally beg and bribe him that it would work (which of course was a lie since I've never made it before in my life) but it was exquisite! My other triumph was making bread pudding with a orange custard sauce for 12. Let's see, I have a whole list of funny anecdotes and poignant stories to share with you all but sadly I never seem to have both time and internet access simultaneously! Know though, that I love hearing from all of you and your emails brighten my day...when I finally get them. I continue to dream anti-malaria drug induced technicolor dreams on occasion, and have recently had one particularly special night which included a bat whizzing around me as I was awkwardly preoccupied in the bathroom. Next I was awakened by screaming. Then by the search party to find the source of the screaming. And finally a flock of guinea fowl going through their own morning ablutions. Guinea fowl are the most noisy, stupid, and downright irritating creatures on the island. Imagine the sound of a creaky water pump, now amplify it and multiply it by eight. There you have our flock of guinea fowl. Combine the guinea fowl with the barking dogs chasing them and the eternal dog and cat wars waged daily in the dining room, and dog induced sand crab genocide, we have quite the animal war zone. And, I'm not even in Ruaha yet! Alright I must away or I won't be able to afford anything after today. I hope you are all well and I miss you all!
Love,
Sara